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About eWillys
Welcome to eWillys.com, a website for vintage jeep enthusiasts. I update this website nearly every day with jeep deals, jeep history, interesting reader projects, jeep related info, and more.
These quick searches can help you find things on eBay. People list in the wrong categories all the time, so don't be surprised to see brochures in the parts area for example. This section used to be split into jeeps, parts and other categories, but recent changes to eBay will require this information to be recoded.
The links to posts below show jeeps grouped by models, condition, and other ways. Some of these jeeps are for sale and others have been sold. If you are unsure whether a vehicle is still for sale or not, email me at d [at] ewillys.com for more info.
Importantly, the allure of buying a project jeep can be romantic. The reality of restoring a jeep can be quite different, expensive and overwhelming without the right tools and resources. So, tread carefully when purchasing a "project". If you have any concerns about buying a vintage jeep, or run across a scam, feel free to contact me for help, comments or concerns .
The October 26, 1943, Fox Movietone featured a one minute clip about a Toledo, Ohio, Fire Jeep. It appears to be built on a Willys MB Slat Grille. The clip appears at the 6:53 mark of the video. I managed to get a few still images:
“You are bidding on an original press photo of Toledo Farmers Using Vintage Willys Overland Jeep . If the listing shows thin red and/or green lines, they are the result of a bad scan & they are NOT on the actual photo. Photo measures 7 x 9 inches and is dated 7/10/1945.”
“1949 Press Photo Portland city commissioners went on a jeep tour Thursday
This is an original press photo. Portland city commissioners went on a jeep tour Thursday through new 1 1/2 mile sewer running undreground from Columbia slough to Oregon slough. In front, from left, are Commissioners Ormond Bean, William Bowes and Driver Chuck Odell, Commissioner Fred Peterson is at upper right.Photo measures 7.25 x 9.5inches. Photo is dated 12-30-1949.”
I found this interesting article from the St. Petersburg Times in 1994. Island Cruisers was a Clearwater, Florida, company that refurbished old right-hand drive postal jeeps for export to island countries where people drive on the right hand side.
Jan and Robin Stach started the company. By the time this article was written, the company had sold 35 jeeps to the Bahamas, Grenada, Aruba, the Cayman Islands and Cancun. They were generally used for rentals. The company had another 30 jeeps in process. The Stachs feel that demand was huge and they hoped to mature into a company capable of producing 500 jeeps a month.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find any additional information on how successful (or not) or for how long the company operated.
“1947 Press Photo Johnny Price of Indians Catches Flies Upside Down in a Jeep
This is an original press photo. Johnny Price, Cleveland Indians comedian, demonstrates, with the aid of a jeep, how the outfielder of 1950 will chase flies–even while upside down. Price showed how before exhibition game between Indians and New York Giants at Tucson, Arizona.Photo measures 9 x 7.25inches. Photo is dated 03-15-1947.”
“1944- U.S. Marine and U.S. Navy Seabee shaking hands in front of sign erected by the 3rd Marine, 2nd Raider Regiment on Bougainville which reads: So when we reach the Isle of Japan
With our caps at a jaunty tilt
We’ll enter the city of Tokyo
On the roads the seabees built.”
The prisoner doesn’t seem all that upset about being captured.
“1943- Wounded German soldier is brought down from the hills around Salerno in a jeep ambulance for treatment at a dressing station behind Allied lines.”
According to this story, Buddy Cowger lost the use of his legs due to cyanide poisoning. That didn’t stop him from driving the backroads of Utah in search of Uranium. He was a friend of Charlie Steen, a famous Uranium hunter out of Moab.